It is odd that a community in the middle of paradise - Brainerd - should have sadness associated with it. I had ample reason to appreciate the "paradise" part of the equation when I was young. My mother is a native of Brainerd. In her youth it was a company town with the railroad. That's how my grandfather made his living.
Mom tells a story about when Social Security first began and her father's first check was on its way. He died of a stroke, unable to realize the fruits of that new Federal program. So that's sad on a personal family level. We appreciated the Brainerd lakes paradise by having access to lakeshore property owned by friends of the family. It was on Pelican Lake where we find Breezy Point Resort. We were on the opposite end of the lake from the resort. It was a beautiful place where we could swim and keep our fishing boat.
We had access because of Mom's best high school friend. That friend, Ruth Closson (nee Schiel), is in heaven now. Mom is 93 so most of her friends/family have departed for the next life. I presume they're in heaven and we have just been informed by the Pope that there is no hell, I guess. I'm writing this post on Good Friday. I'm a little disturbed that our Morris Public Library chooses to be closed for Good Friday. This is a purely religious holiday. It's one that I do not favor because we hear so much about the torture of Jesus Christ.
I found the Brainerd area to be so different from our prairie Morris area. Not to prefer one over the other, but I found Brainerd to be an uplifting place just because of all the lakes and rich forests. In Morris we have rich farm country and wide-open spaces.
Back to the sadness there: Brainerd today is not considered the best place to live. I began hearing several years ago that much of the area's economic assets were shifting to Baxter. Whatever, we learn that the unemployment rate in Brainerd is fourth highest in the state (6.5 percent). Residents earn the smallest household income in the state! At a combined income of $29,355, families of four are barely above the poverty line.
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| Mom with her musical flair |
Brainerd has a high rate of crime today: 14th highest in the state. Ruth changed her residence from Brainerd to Baxter late in her life, moving into an apartment and getting assistance from her daughter Nancy. Nancy was the only child of Ruth and her late husband Chuck, who died too young because of heart problems. Nancy and I are both only children and we graduated from high school the same year: 1973. Today she's Nancy Briley. I haven't spoken to her since the mid-1970s unfortunately.
Saddest of all: WWII
Great sadness marked the Brainerd community in the mid-20th Century. Brainerd had a National Guard unit that was called to serve at the outbreak of World War II. My mother Martha was a musician for the send-off ceremony and for the later somber welcome-back. Those Guardsmen were captured by the Japanese in the Philippines. General MacArthur got whisked away. The Guardsmen were left vulnerable and suffered badly, many meeting their deaths at the hands of the brainwashed, sadistic Japanese.
It was February 10, 1941, when Brainerd's 34th Tank Company, Minnesota National Guard, commanded by Ernest B. Miller, was Federalized and ordered to Fort Lewis, Washington, for training. They were combined with units from other places and re-designated the 194th Tank Battalion. Major Miller was appointed the battalion commander. The orders came to "reinforce" the Philippine Islands. They arrived in Manila on September 26, 1941. They were the first armored unit sent outside the continental United States.
The battalion got stationed on the island of Luzon where they trained until the outbreak of war on December 7, 1941. The "Japs" invaded. The 194th held vital positions throughout the islands until the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942. They were ordered to surrender by General King. The men of the 194th were ordered on the infamous Bataan Death March. They began marching north on April 10, 1942. They lacked food and water and were subjected to cruelty and atrocities. Many died as they tried to cover the 60 miles.
The horror story continued in various phases, details of which I do not wish to continue with. Of the original 64 National Guardsmen, only 32 survived to return to Brainerd after the end of the war.
Mom was a 1942 graduate of Brainerd High School and enjoyed attending reunions through the years. I think she especially enjoyed the 1972 reunion because she could tell all her friends that I was on a European musical tour! I'm sure just a mere handful of those grads are alive today. Mom will be 94 in June. It looks like she's going to make it. She is designated hospice now but is getting by day to day quite satisfactorily. Knock on wood. Thanks to Knute Nelson for the various services they provide us.
Connection to the movies
I remember when my family went to Brainerd for a big community celebration - the Centennial? - in the early 1970s. One of the events was the rare showing of some old film footage that featured Tommy "Fatty" Wood. He was a silent film actor. Not much can be found about him online today. We learn he is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Brainerd, the same cemetery as my grandparents on my mother's side.
"Fatty" obviously wasn't a major performer. This film was actually shot in Brainerd and appeared to be a gesture of tribute to the community, as I recall. Today such old delicate film would be "digitized" in a heartbeat. Shall I assume this was eventually done? It isn't possible that Brainerd historians have forgotten about this, have they? The reason I wonder is that I cannot find this gem on YouTube. I should contact the historical society to satisfy my curiosity.
More sadness: "Fatty" died young at age 38.
Mom has a couple old items like a junior high yearbook that might be of interest to Crow Wing County historians.
Continuing on somber note
Ruth had a sister Gloria who had a son "Dicky" who was killed by friendly fire in Vietnam in 1966. We attended the funeral. I was shocked because the body was not particularly well preserved. The skin was purple-ish. I remember Ruth standing behind me as we observed the body, her hand on my shoulder and trembling badly. Already skeptical, I had nothing but resentment toward our "war effort" from then on. Does "friendly fire" mean Dicky may have been "fragged?" I cannot rule that out, sadly. The man's full name was Richard Ungerecht. He was very well-liked. I wrote a post about Dicky and the background relative to his death, on my companion blog site "Morris of Course." You may click to read:
Ruth, Gloria and their brother Frank ("Sparky") were children of Art and Myrt Schiel. These were all salt of the Earth people. I played many "31" card games with Art and Myrt.
In sum: Brainerd MN surely has a rich history even if marked by tragedy, and by today's economic challenges. The old spirit of this railroading town will never disappear into the ether. I can close my eyes and imagine the loon sounds around Pelican Lake. "I can almost smell the air," as the old song lyrics about Minnesota went.
May Brainerd be blessed by brighter times ahead.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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